How old are you and what do you normally spend your days doing? 

I’m 24. I spend my days working, cycling, discovering the city and meeting up with new people. I work as a personal care assistant and bingovärdinna (bingo hostess) in the one and only bingo hall in the city. My goal was to find a job where I can use my Swedish and have contact with native speakers to develop my language skills.

And it has happened, so I’m surrounded by Swedes every day and every moment I learn some new words that I can I add to the list of Swedish words I have learned during my stay in Halmstad.

When and why did you move to your city? 

I moved to Sweden two months ago. I had been dreaming about moving to Sweden for more than ten years before it happened. A year ago I decided to finally make this dream come true. I had one year of studies left, so I decided to spend this year collecting money, finishing Scandinavian studies and getting ready to move to Sweden. I wanted to move to Gothenburg but it was very hard to find an apartment in the city…. so I started to give up the hope and then one day we went out with students and teachers from Scandinavian studies.

I talked about my dream and I heard that my Swedish teacher had an apartment to rent in Halmstad. I googled the city, took a walk on Google Maps and liked what I saw. The next day I told them I would love to rent the apartment.

And that’s how I ended up living here. It was all down to chance. But I really enjoy living here and this morning, when I was taking a walk in the city centre, I felt that I'm probably falling in love with the city.

Even if it’s autumn and it’s grey and cold in here there is some magic on the streets of Halmstad. 

What do you love the most about your city? 

I love that Halmstad is so close to the sea, and that you can cycle everywhere here and cycle paths lead you wherever you want to go. I love that the city is so calm and that it reminds me of Gdansk, the city in Poland I had been living in before I moved here. And I love that sometimes you can smell cinnamon when you pass by the cafés on the bike. 

What annoys you the most about your city?

Actually I couldn’t find anything that annoys me yet…I think I need some more time to see the disadvantages. I’m still in the first phase of falling in love with this place. Everything seems so new and so exciting that I don’t see these small things that probably will annoy me in the future. 

How should I spend a day in your city? 

You should start your day from breakfast or morning coffee at Skånskan, then take a walk along the river and then along the coast enjoying the Prins Bertils stig. You can take a break somewhere on the path, there are many places where you can light up a bonfire so I can recommend to roast food over a fire and enjoy your lunch somewhere ute i naturen (out in nature). And in the evening you should watch the sunset over Halmstad, maybe on the Galgberget.